The Protector
by LanceIsHot
Summary: Just a little one-shot on Evan going from the slacker of the X-men to the protector of the Morlocks. R&R please!


**A/N, Hey, I finally saw the last two seasons of X-men, and I've decided that even though I couldn't stand Evan in the first two seasons, he's really cool as a Morlock. So, I decided to write a little one-shot for him. R&R please!**

"Lazy." "Slacker." "Irresponsible." Those were words that just seemed to follow me around at Xavier's place. I was the joker, the rebel, the one no one really liked. Except for Auntie O, and even she got fed up with me after a while. That was one of the reasons I left- hearing everyone say I didn't belong, just made me feel like it.

I'm not lazy; I work harder than anyone else down here. I'm the only real defense the Morlocks have against the topsiders.

Topsiders…man, I've been down here too long. I'm starting to talk like them, to think like them.

Not that it's bad, I like being a Morlock. For once in my life, I feel as if I'm part of something, something important. I like my job; I'm not the rebel who's always getting in trouble, I'm part of the family.

I don't feel like I'm just sitting around waiting for someone to attack, or something bad to happen, because really, I don't have to wait for things to go wrong.

One catastrophe is followed by another down here. Someone will go up to get food, and be attacked, someone will get sick, and need medicine, the money runs out… Nothing ever seems to go right down here.

It's hard to believe that someone could live down here for so long. I mean, the sewers, it can't be safe, we get sick down here a lot more than anywhere else I've lived. Someone always has phenomena, or has broken an arm falling down one of the tunnels, or is still trying to fight off the poison from the Power 8. People are going to start dying soon, sooner than Callistro wants to think. She's ignoring the fact that more and more people get sick every day.

I'm not going to do that.

We have a lot of people now; a lot more than what was here when I came at least. Before, with the exception of Ray, it was mainly for people whose mutations had become too physical to remain in the outside world, and too proud to except help from people like Xavier. But now it's open to anyone who's faced persecution by the humans. All sorts of people have joined, and most of them didn't know what they were getting themselves into. They didn't realize that they couldn't take a shower everyday, or sleep on a bed, or even have a decent meal. Most of them couldn't take it; they left as quickly as they came.

I didn't blame them.

Thankfully, a lot of the people who stayed helped a lot. One of them used to be a teacher, and had gathered up all the kids for school. I tried getting out, school was never something I was interested in, but Callistro said if I didn't go, she'd whip the tar out of me. I don't know if she really would, but I go, just to be on the safe side, she can be pretty scary at times. Schools not that bad down here, the teacher- Jenny, is really nice, and she knows that most of the kids down here haven't had any schooling. And she doesn't assign any hard work, she knows we won't need to learn that much.

She knows that most of the kids down here don't stand a chance at getting out of the sewers.

It's depressing in a way. Looking at Leech and Torpid and Mary Ella, and all the other kids, they're too different to make it topside. And by now, they've been with the Morlocks to long to want to go. They've been taught for most of their lives that humans are evil, and can't be trusted, and that's what they believe.

I try and tell them some people out there are good. My parents are humans, and so were most of my friends. Of course, my friends didn't stick up for me after mutants were exposed, and I haven't talked to my parents in months, but still…

"Hey, Spike, we've got food!" I heard someone call from one of the other tunnels. Funny, no one told me that they were going to get food. I usually go up every time, just in case.

"What gives? I thought we'd agreed that I'd go up with you, Scale face," I said, as I rounded the corner. I stopped short. On the table was a cupcake, with a candle on it, and three presents next to it.

"Happy Birthday!" Everyone yelled. I stared silently for a few seconds, trying to grasp what was going on. It couldn't be my birthday. It didn't seem like enough time had passed. Last time I had a birthday, it was at the mansion.

And the presents were a lot better than the ripped up coloring book, the teddy bear from Torpid, and a fire extinguisher that Scale face had stolen from a school.

"Those flaming spikes of yours are getting out of control," she said.

They were great gifts, even though I knew they had been found in the trash, or stolen, but the people who got it for me tried. The X-men came down to the dining room, sang happy birthday, ate the cake, threw some presents at me, which they probably just bought as an afterthought, and walked out. It was pretty obvious that they didn't care.

But then again, there was a lot of ways to tell that they didn't care. Rogue always complained about how everyone else seemed to get along, and worked as a family, and always left her out. Please, she went everywhere, the teachers favored her, and at least she had a roommate to talk to at night. She always said how she was the 'poor misunderstood mutant who was unable to touch.' She was like that chick from "Full House," the one in the middle, I forgot her name. She always complained that people don't pay enough attention to her, yet most of the episodes were about her. That show always bugged me, but it was Kitty's favorite show, and so it was on all the time.

My powers were too dangerous for the professor to allow me to have a roommate back then. Heck, they're still kind of out of control, but down here, no one's afraid to take the risk of being in the same room as me. No one's afraid of me here. That's another thing I like about living here. No one ducks when I sneeze, or runs for cover when I stretch, like they did at the mansion. It's nice that everyone's powers are so out of control, no one is afraid of each other.

Torpid is pulling on my shorts, trying to get my attention. I feel sorry for her, her powers are as uncontrollable as Rogues, but she can't even talk, which must be hard.

The others sang happy birthday to me, and they sound like they mean it, like they care. It's nice. Torpid was still trying to get my attention. She held up the teddy bear she gave me; I guess she was wondering why I wasn't holding it or something. The kid's cute, but she doesn't seem to understand my place down here. She sees me as a playmate, another one of the Morlocks. I doubt she even understood what was going on when we trashed the Power 8 plant, or when Duncan shot at us. Don't get me wrong, she's a smart kid, but, even as a Morlock, she's naïve to the ways of the world. She's never seen me shoot spikes at anyone; she closes her eyes, she sees me as her friend. But, some friend I am, I don't even know her real name. And I don't even know what Torpid means; it's just the name Callistro told me.

I took the teddy bear, and gave it a slight hug, just to make her happy, and walked away. I don't want anyone to catch me hugging a stuffed animal, down here, that's not the way things work.

I caught up with the people going up for food, but they had enough going, they didn't need me. Well, they do need me, just not this time. I always point that out to myself when that happens, I don't want to risk feeling like… well, like I did at Xavier's place.

Useless.

I don't worry about it that much, I've done more for these people than anyone else, as much as I hate to admit it, they wouldn't survive without me. I'm not bragging, it's true, there's so much anti-mutant acts going on, that the Morlocks get a lot of attention they don't need.

But that's why I'm here, to protect them. They saved my life; I won't turn my back on them. The Morlocks don't have the defense system that the X-men do; I'm the best defense they've got.

Bobby would say that that's not a lot of reassurance for them, but he couldn't be more wrong. It's funny, the X-men thought they knew me, but they only knew the bored city-kid who wanted some action, and who knew that Xavier's dream wouldn't work out. It's one of the reasons I accepted Callistro's invitation in, I knew Xavier's ideas of a perfect world would never work, and the Morlocks agree with me. Another one of the reason's I fit in so well here, and stood out with the X-men.

And so I'm here, fighting the humans and whoever else threatens my friends, and I'll be here for as long as I can protect them. I can't give much else to them, I'm not a doctor, or a teacher, or the lazy, rebellious punk the X-men thought I was. I'm more than that.

I'm the protector.

**A bit corny, but I felt Evan needed a story where he didn't die by some extreme Spyke hater. It's amazing how many stories are devoted to bashing him. I kinda like him now, and if you don't, well, watch the last two seasons, he's a really good Morlock.**

**Don't forget to review! Thanks!**


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